Atkins and The Crown Estate has opened a new digital hub for contributors seeking to accelerate offshore wind development in the UK.
The Offshore Wind Evidence & Knowledge Hub (OWEKH) is a knowledge centre that aims to transform the information landscape of the offshore wind sector.
Funded by The Crown Estate through the Offshore Wind Evidence & Change Programme, and run by Atkins, OWEKH aims to help to realise the ambition of 50GW of offshore wind by 2030 by enabling easy access to information to accelerate and streamline the consenting process.
Later this year, the launch of the digital portal will enable developers, regulators, marine specialists and other professionals working in offshore wind to access and interact with key data and documentation to inform rapid, high-quality consenting around offshore wind development.
This includes past impact assessments, industry knowledge, large-scale datasets and academic references.
The project is now inviting organisations and individuals to be help support and shape the development of this important new initiative by signing up to become part of the Community of Practice and Technical Topic Groups.
By doing so, they can lend their expertise in curating and interpreting the data and evidence collected in the knowledge hub.
Participants will be able to keep up to date with the latest industry advances, input their own expertise and link up with subject matter experts in key concerns.
Any parties involved in the offshore wind consenting process are invited to participate; from consultants, specialised sub-contractors and developers to regulatory and other stakeholders, including marine professionals and fisheries planners.
Marine consents manager at The Crown Estate and OWEKH project manager Sion Roberts said: “The need to transition from fossil fuels and strengthen energy security is greater than ever.
“As managers of the seabed, The Crown Estate recognises that accelerating our journey to net zero requires collaboration across stakeholder groups working in offshore wind. Today’s announcement marks an important step on the way to achieving this.
“By consolidating expertise between many projects and stakeholders across the sector, OWEKH will significantly shorten the consenting process and accelerate the expansion of offshore wind generation.”
Atkins OWEKH project director Chris Mcdougall added: “The current consenting process often requires developers to start ‘from scratch’ in knowledge gathering. This can be expensive and lengthy.
“OWEKH will facilitate a valuable knowledge transfer, for instance, providing data on cetacean movements that may have already been captured, or a piece of best practice on analysis methodology.
“It is the Community of Practice and Working Groups that will guide publication of these crucial pieces of information and build on them to provide cohesive guidance for the industry.
“We are encouraging any offshore wind consent experts with knowledge to share to get involved.”
Individuals or organisations wishing to register their interest on becoming part of OWEKH’s Community of Practice and Technical Topic Groups are invited to contact the development team at Atkins via email Elspeth.mcintyre@atkinsglobal.com or sign-up via the microsite at: https://register-owekh-interest.azurewebsites.net/home.